Most Popular Books by Dave Jackson

When budget cuts threaten their favorite school programs, seventh-grader Drea Thomas and her friends enthusiastically agree to raise the money themselves.

ASSASSINS IN THE CATHEDRAL, Introducing Festo Kivengere -- With the help of Uganda''s famous evangelist Festo Kivengere, Yacobo Kabaza and his family move to the Ugandan capital, Kampala, where Yacobo''s father will be the new driver for Archbishop Luwum. As part of the cathedral''s upcoming Centennial celebration, the archbishop asks Yacobo, an aspiring author, to write a play about the legendary three boys who became Uganda''s first Christian martyrs. The young teenager is thrilled. However, the growing reign of terror of General Idi Amin and his "Special Forces," who falsely suspect the church of helping the rebels, overshadows Yacobo''s excitement. When the archbishop doesn''t return from a meeting with Amin, officials claim he died in a "car accident." Kivengere is forced to flee the country. But the church bravely goes on with preparations for the Centennial, and Yacobo''s play begins rehearsals, with his brother, Blasio, playing the youngest martyr. As the Special Forces circle closer, and the legend of the martyrs becomes alarmingly real, will Yacobo have the strength to survive? Faced with death, their weapon is love.

BLINDED BY THE SHINING PATH, Introducing Romulo Saune -- Bandits are a regular threat to the small Peruvian village Alfredo Garcia lives in. Government protection is scarce and the police never enforce the law. So the village men take it upon themselves to defend their village, but return unsuccessful when Alfredo''s father is killed. Rico, Alfredo''s brother, joins the Communist Shining Path guerrillas hoping to avenge their father''s death. But the terrorists prove to be more dangerous than the bandits they promised to protect the villaters from, and it''s not long before they begin killing followers of Jesus Christ, too. When Alfredo also becomes involved with the guerrillas, he is forced to prove his loyalty or be considered a deserter and risk death. His orders are to kill the evangelist, Pastor Romulo Saune, but when his mission fails, Alfredo begins asking harder questions. CAN SOMETHING GOOD COME FROM SOMETHING SO BAD?"

Called the black ''''Moses'''' of the Civil War, Harriet Tubman is one of the enduring figures of African-American history. This Trailblazer Book looks at the important role she held.

In "Sinking the Dayspring", 14-year-old Kevin Gilmore is stranded on an island of cannibals when the ship is damaged.

Casey convinces his family to join the circus but a terrifying accident leaves him paralyzed with fear. Ages 8-12.

Thirteen-year-old Drea learns a lesson about responsibility when she''s forced to cancel her exciting weekend plans to babysit for Rebecca and Matt.

Twelve-year-old Alastair, a son of Christian missionaries on the Philippine Islasnd of Palawan, finds a way for Joy Ridderhof to record the gospels in the native language.

Stories with accompanying Scripture quotations and discussion questions deal with the experience of being awakened in the night by a smoke alarm, getting separated from a parent in a department store, and being sexually molested.

Stories with accompanying Scripture quotations and discussion questions suggest creative use of imagination to relieve boredom in bad weather or on a long car trip, and to deal with restlessness from overstimulation or excitement.

Thrilling adventure stories introducing young readers (ages 8-12) to Christian heroes of the past. Jerry Newman doesn''t mean to keep getting into trouble -- it just sort of happens. But when a practical joke goes wrong, burning down a church in his small east Texas town, Jerry''s widowed mother quickly sends him to live with his journalist uncle in Los Angeles. Jerry is secretly pleased -- not only to avoid being punished for his crime but also to live in California...the end of the earth! On the night before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, Jerry and his uncle go to investigate a popular warehouse church in Los Angeles. There, they hear a man predict the coming quake. But Jerry is even more impressed by the powerful preacher, William Seymour, and by the hundreds of blacks and whites worshipping and praying together in strange "tongues". Jerry wants to believe Seymour''s message, but will he do so when it means confessing his dangerous secret?

Stories with accompanying Scripture quotations and discussion questions suggest ways to deal with anger over unfair punishment, conflict with a bully, and damage done by a young sibling.

Trailblazer Books makes history exciting and relevant for both boys and girls. Mehdi Ksara, a Muslim boy in Morocco, collects items he finds among the foreigners living in his village. He knows he risks his parents'' wrath by treasuring the pictures of Jesus given to him by missionary Maude Cary. Will the missionary''s God save Mehdi when his pictures are discovered?

A young English boy is sold to be trained as a chimney sweep and is rescued by his brother with the help of John Wesley. Ages 8-12.

If Sarah''s desperate mission fails, her family is in peril of their lives.

Jova''s search leads him all the way to America. There, he is at last reunited with the missing prince, now known as Samuel Morris. Inspired by Samuel''s faith, Jova returns to Africa with news of a new, even greater Prince for his people.

With God''s love, Curly, a young nineteenth-century English boy convicted of armed robbery, reforms his ways after being sent to one of George Müller''s orphan homes.

When he is taken aboard a ship bound for China, twelve-year-old Neil Thompson is befriended by Hudson Taylor and shares adventures with him during the voyage and in China, where Taylor sets up a mission.

MASK OF THE WOLF BOY, Introducing Jonathan and Rosalind Goforth -- In the Chinese city of Changte, Chou Fu-lin is known simply as "Wolf Boy." Plagued by recurring nightmares of a childhood accident, Fu-lin hides more than his face behind his carefully tied bandana. Still, he enjoys his job as a house servant for Canadian missionaries Jonathan and Rosalind Goforth, and has recently become a Christian himself, joining their growing church. The Wolf Boy''s faith is soon put to the test with the outbreak of the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. The Goforths are forced to flee the country, and Fu-lin gladly goes with them. But as the refugee Christians are greeted with ever louder and more violent protests, Fu-lin is sorely tempted to hide his faith and disappear into the crowd. Will Chou Fu-lin have the courage to face his greatest fears and finally expose the truth? Who will be revealed when the Wolf Boy removes his mask?

In 1660, after his father is imprisoned in the Tower of London, Richard Winslow goes to stay with his uncle who is in charge of the Bedford jail and there meets and is helped by the Puritan preacher John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim''s Progress.

FLIGHT OF THE FUGITIVES Introducing Gladys Aylward Six-year-old Mei-en screamed in terror when she realized her gypsy owner was about to sell her to a foreign lady. Times were hard in the mountainous region of China in 1934, and orphans were often sold for pennies. But foreigners in China were considered "devils," and Mei-en thought surely the little woman in Chinese clothes would eat her for supper! But this time Mei-en''s new owner was the compassionate and respected missionary, Gladys Aylward. One day outside her new home, Mei-en saw wonderful silver "birds" flying in the sky-but her delight turned to dread when they began dropping bombs that exploded all over the city. Suddenly their lives, and those of nearly a hundred orphan children, were in terrible danger! With the enemy in hot pursuit, their only escape is over the mountains!

THE RUNAWAY''S REVENGE, Introducing John Newton -- Thirteen-year-old slave Hamilton Jones seizes his freedom when his cruel master dies on a trip to England in 1775. Driven by a desire for revenge after years of mistreatment, the boy hunts down former slave trader John Newton-the man responsible for bringing Hamilton''s mother to the United States. Hamilton wants only one thing: to make the man pay with his life for his evil crime! But the John Newton that Hamilton meets is nothing like the horrible person he imagined. Instead of reacting with fear when threatened with death, the little man seems calm and unafraid. Newton even agrees he deserves to die-and claims to be something worse than a slave trader! Astonished, Hamilton stays to listen to the preacher''s story. What could be worse than being a slave trader? Hamilton sees his chance for revenge . . . but will he go thorough with it?

THE THIEVES OF TYBURN SQUARE, Introducing Elizabeth Fry -- Betsey and Loren Maxwell are on their own in early nineteenth-century England after their mother is deported to New South Wales for stealing two silver candlesticks. Faced with few options, the young Maxwells are forced to live and work in a gloomy London workhouse. Betsey and her brother have a terrible time enduring the harsh treatment and strict rules of the workhouse overseers. Then Loren sees an opportunity to escape, and the pair soon find themselves back on the dangerous streets of London-with only a stolen pouch of money to support them. Their new life takes a disastrous turn when Betsey and Loren are jailed for pickpocketing in Tyburn Square. Betsey is terrified that she''ll never see her brother or mother again, but a visit from a kind Quaker woman named Elizabeth Fry gives her courage. Can this compassionate prison reformer save Betsey and her brother from the gallows in Tyburn Square? Alone and in prison with no one to turn to . . .

THE BETRAYER''S FORTUNE Introducing Menno Simons Adriaen Wens was frightened-for his own life and for his mother''s. In 1543, many Christians in northeastern Europe were suffering cruel persecution, even execution, for following the beliefs of Menno Simons, the leader of a group called the Anabaptists. When Adriaen''s mother was arrested, he had to flee during the night with Menno, knowing that to stay in the city would mean his own arrest. Soon after, Adriaen discovered there was a reward of a hundred gold pieces for the capture of Menno Simons. With so much gold, Adriaen could free his mother and rescue his family from the city! But could he turn in the underground church leader, even if it meant the man''s execution? If Adriaen betrays the leader, his family will go free!

Meet Annabelle Fortune, an 1880s cowgirl tougher than Calamity Jane!